Turkey detains suspect over Kurdish party rally attack

Turkish authorities have detained one suspect over a bomb attack that killed two people at a rally of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) just ahead of general elections, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday.

The strike in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Friday left dozens more wounded and added to already simmering tensions ahead of Sunday’s tight legislative polls.

“A person was arrested late last night (Saturday) in connection with this incident. We have asked the authorities to thoroughly examine his past,” Davutoglu told reporters after he cast his vote in the central Anatolian province of Konya, his home region.

Davutoglu said he would not disclose the name of the suspect because of an ongoing investigation. But he added that all measures have been taken and the suspect’s links to militant organisations would soon be revealed.

Davutoglu condemned the blasts as “an attack on Turkish democracy,” saying the “dirty hands” who ordered the attack would be exposed.

The blasts were the latest strike against the HDP in the campaign, which its co-chair Selahattin Demirtas said had been the target of 140 violent attacks.

The HDP is battling to exceed the tough 10 percent threshold required in Turkey to send MPs to parliament.

Should it succeed, the presence of HDP MPs could stymie plans by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to agree a new constitution to hand more power to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Intellectualist

Massive victory for Erdogan’s New Turkey. His attacks on the left incited their rise to a more inclusive government. Few will recognize this except historians. However those of us watching the skillful manipulation know the Turks who wished for a single party rule were bait and switched into something better. Good work Erdogan, you did well buddy. Congratulate the Kurds for voting and ask their forgiveness for using such harsh criticism. It had to be done. The next step should be to elect a small upper house or committee to ratify the president’s cabinet picks. It should have equal seats for each of the four parties. The coalition method isn’t fair because it doesn’t check the power of the majority over the minority.